THE ACCIDENTAL BEST FRIEND

Steve was roused from the near-trance of doing paperwork by his telephone ringing. He answered it.

"Mr. Peterson, I have an Abby Summers for you on the line." Said Sylvia, his secretary.

Steve smiled. This was not entirely unexpected. Abby did this sort of thing every once in a while. Eagerly, he answered, "Put her through."

Abby came on the line. "Hello, Abby." He said, before she could speak. "What is it now? Breakfast in Mexico? A concert for Bangladesh? Oh, wait, let me guess…you’ve decided that we should all motor up to the redwoods for the weekend." Her free-spirit nature was both a blessing and a curse for her friends. While everyone knew her heart was in the right place, she could play hell with people’s lives.

She sounded a lot less chipper than usual. "Nothing like that, Steve. Could you come over tonight? I need to talk."

Steve’s eyebrows raised. Abby wanting to just have a conversation was very unusual. He pulled his appointment book out of the desk drawer and flipped through it. "Hmmm….aw, jeez, tonight’s no good. I’m having dinner with a client. Could we do it tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure."

Steve smiled. "Great. See you tomorrow night." He hung up. He went back to the paperwork he was doing and forgot about her.

Later, driving home after his dinner, Steve thought about her. Abby was one of several people he had known in college, but definitely the most unforgettable. After their graduation, he had gotten a job at a public relations firm, and he had stayed friends with her since. He had to admit Abby had been one of the more interesting chapters in his life.

She absolutely refused to let him sell out everything he had been in college. She regularly took him and the rest of her "gang" on odd road-trips, doing everything from protesting at a union-busting factory to being part of several rallies at the state capital to just observing other cultures. He would probably be a very different person if it weren’t for her, and he did value her friendship.

By the time he got home, he felt guilty about blowing her off so quickly. He decided to stop by the bakery where she worked before he went to work tomorrow and see if she was OK.

The next day, he arrived at the bakery early. Despite the hour, the bakery was open, and full of customers. He ordered a donut and looked around. He saw Matt, a Jamaican pot-smoking advocate, and Vicki, his wife and a biographer of noted 60s radicals, sitting at a table. Like him, they were part of Abby’s "posse". When he got his donut, he went over.

"Hey there, Stevie-boy, how’s the rat race?" Said Matt as he sat down.

He smiled. "It’s going okay. Hey, have you guys seen Abby today?"

Matt frowned, and Vicki answered. "Nope. Blondie didn’t come in today. Anything wrong?"

Steve chewed his lower lip. "I don’t know. She called me last night, wanting to talk. I blew her off, saying we should see each other tonight."

Matt looked concerned. "Hey, man, you shouldn’t have done that. Godmama Abby isn’t supposed to be someone you blow off."

Steve sighed. He remembered when he tried to blow her off when she had taken him up to the state capital for a rally for the first time since graduation. She had literally barged into his office, right past his secretary, and drug him out practically by his ear. He’d managed to smooth things over with his bosses, and he had learned the hard way that no one took her lightly. He felt even worse about last night.

"Say, guys," he began, "If you see her before tonight, give me a call. Otherwise, can you meet me at her place around seven?"

Vicki put her hand over his. "Sure thing, sweets."

Steve smiled and got up. "Thanks." With that, he left.

Six-thirty came and went, and neither Matt nor Vicki had called him. He got into his car and sped over to Abby’s house. The place was a somewhat dilapidated structure she was in the middle of fixing up. As he got out, he saw both Matt and Vicki drive up in Matt’s car.

Saying nothing, the trio walked up to the front door. Steve knocked and waited. Nothing happened. He knocked again, and finally pounded on the door. Still, there was no answer.

That was strange. "Could she be out?" asked Vicki.

Steve frowned. "I don’t think so. Her car’s still in the garage." He pointed to her Buick. "Also, she knew I was coming over tonight. Abby’s not the kind of person to forget when someone comes over." He surveyed the house. "I think there’s a lamp on in her living room."

"Perhaps we should just go in anyway?" Asked Matt.

Steve nodded. "I think you’re right." He looked around the yard. "Where’s her spare key?"

Vicki ran her hands over the doorsill and found it. She unlocked the door and pushed it open slowly.

Cautiously, the trio went in. "Abby!" They all called out. They got no answer.

Steve looked at Matt and Vicki. "Split up. Yell if you see something."

Matt headed to the back of the house, Vicki went towards Abby’s bedroom, and Steve turned the corner and went into the living room.

He found her there, apparently sleeping on the couch. When his eyes grew adjusted to the light, he noticed something was wrong.

The couch was covered in blood, as was Abby’s skirt. Her normally pretty face was in a rictus of pain, and dangling from her fingers was a piece of a clothes hanger. He rushed over. "DEAR GOD!" He shouted. "ABBY!"

Matt and Vicki came running. Matt drew back when he saw the scene; Vicki turned around and covered her mouth with her hand. "Call 911!" He yelled at them.

Vicki immediately went into the kitchen and got on the phone. Steve yelled at Matt, "Get me some towels! Quickly!". Matt left.

Steve looked her over. He took her pulse, and found it still beating. She was breathing as well. Thank goodness for that. When Matt came back with the towels, he wadded one up and placed it between her legs. "Oh god, Abby, why?" he said.

Abby remained inert on the couch.

The three followed the ambulance that took Abby to the hospital, Steve going over again and again his phone conversation with her, trying to think of any clues to as to why she would have done something like this. When they got to the hospital, he rushed over to the emergency entrance; Matt and Vicki close behind. They all looked on worriedly as the doctors rushed over to treat her. Steve tried to follow, but was forced back by a nurse. "Sir, you can’t go in there."

"But…" was all Steve could say. She guided him back to the waiting room. "Why don’t you fill out the admitting forms. I’ll have the doctor come over when he finished." She handed him a clipboard and a pen.

Confused and afraid, Steve wandered over to the waiting room and plopped down on a chair. Matt and Vicki sat beside him. "Oh god, why?" He asked.

Matt shook his head. Vicki spoke. "I’ll go get us some coffee." She got up and left the waiting room.

Not knowing what else to do, Steve began filling out the forms. When he got to the next of kin, he remembered. "Sophie!"

"Huh?" Asked Matt, puzzled.

Steve turned to him. "Abby’s mom. Someone’s got to tell her!" He immediately got up and went to the pay phone nearby. He fished around in his pockets and found change, then dialed Sophie’s number. He decided not to tell her why Abby was in the hospital. Unlike her daughter, Sophie was very much an old-fashioned woman.

Thankfully, Sophie remained calm when Steve told her. She would get Abby’s sister Gina and then be coming immediately, and would probably get there in an hour. That resolved, he went back to his seat and began working on the forms again.

Vicki handed Steve a cup of coffee, which Steve gulped without tasting. After a bit, he finished the forms and took them back to the admitting desk. The nurse took them. "I’ll have the doctor come and see you as soon as he’s got some news about her." She said. Steve nodded and went back to the waiting room.

"Any news?" Asked Vicki when he returned.

Steve sighed. "Not yet. The nurse said she’d have the doctor come and see us when there’s anything to report. I’ve called Sophie, and she and Gina and on their way. I didn’t tell her why."

Vicki grimaced.

For a long time, all they did was wait. Matt tried to call some of the other members of Abby’s group, but it seemed like no one was home. Steve refused to be wracked with guilt. He felt sorry, but there was no way he would allow himself to feel any blame for what Abby had done to herself. He would just be there for her, when she recovered.

Before Abby’s mother and sister arrived, the doctor came out to the waiting room. "Are you the people with Miss Summers?" He asked.

Vicki replied. "Yes." Steve and Matt looked at the doctor expectantly.

The doctor sighed. "She’s out of the woods. She lost a lot of blood, and she’s weak, but she should recover. We couldn’t save the fetus, though."

Relief sped over Steve like a wave. Abby would be all right. "Can we see her?" He asked.

"In a bit. We’re going to have her transferred to a room first." He paused to check his notes. "We’ll need to keep her in the hospital for about ten days. You can check with the nurse in about a half hour." He paused. "Is there anything else?" He looked inquiringly at them.

Steve looked at Matt and Vicki. They shook their heads. Steve answered, "No. Thanks."

The doctor turned and left.

Some ten minutes later, they all heard a commotion coming into the waiting room. Steve, Matt, and Vicki all turned to see an older woman wearing an overcoat and slippers come forward. Sophie immediately swooped down on Steve.

"Steven!" She exclaimed as she approached him, "Thank goodness! Is Abby all right? What did the doctor say?"

Steve set Sophie down. "The doctor was just here. He says she’s going to be fine. They’re transferring her to a room right now. We’ll be able to see her soon.

Gina, Abby’s sister, followed Sophie in. "Do you know what happened?" She asked.

Steve paused. He didn’t want to have to tell Sophie about Abby’s botched abortion attempt. "Umm, as far as we can tell," he began, "She got into an accident at home."

Sophie nodded. She got out a tissue from her handbag and dabbed at her eyes. Gina came forward and pulled Steve aside.

"OK, Peterson, what really happened?" She said to him quietly.

Steve looked wretched. He pulled Gina even farther away from Sophie. "I walked in to find Abby on the couch. She’d tried to give herself an abortion. We got her to the hospital." He said, half-whispering.

Gina exhaled. "Good thing you didn’t tell Mom, she would have freaked." She looked around. "I’ll stay with Mom. You can tell the doctors not to tell her exactly what Abby did." With that, she walked back over to Sophie and put her arm around Sophie’s shoulders.

Steve wondered just how he was going to get a hold of the doctor. He wandered back into the emergency room, went to the nurses’ desk, and got the nurse’s attention.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Umm, I need to leave a message for the doctor concerning Abby Summers."

Suddenly, the nurse was concerned. "Oh, did you leave something off the forms?"

Steve shook his head. "No…Not that. It’s just…well; she tried to give herself an abortion. If her mother found out what she’d done, I know she wouldn’t take it well."

The nurse raised her eyebrows. "Crisis can be a good psychic buffer, and this is her mother."

Steve shook his head. "No. I’m her best friend." He paused for a moment while what he had said sunk into his own consciousness. "I know her, and her mother. She wouldn’t deal with it right. I need you to leave a message with the doctor that Abby’s mother is never told exactly what she did."

The nurse clucked her tongue. "Well, all right." She wrote on a piece of paper, found Abby’s chart, and put it in. She looked over the chart as she did. "Well, she’s being transferred to Room 1845. You can see her in about ten minutes."

Steve smiled. "Thanks."

Steve went back out to the lobby and told everyone.

After going to the gift shop to get things, the five went up to Abby’s room. Steve was unusually subdued as he walked with the others. He went over what he had said to the nurse, about being Abby’s best friend. The idea didn’t seem unreasonable. True, Abby had many friends, including her "posse", but she had gone to the time and trouble of including him in her gang, and she had called him about this yesterday. He never would have thought about it, but it seemed that he was indeed her best friend, and he had found it out almost by accident.

A nurse was coming out of Abby’s room just as they came to it. "Are you relatives?’ She asked.

Sophie spoke up. "I’m her mother, and this is her sister." She pulled Gina towards her, so they were standing side-by-side. "These three are her friends. They got her here."

The nurse looked them over. "All right. She’s awake, but probably not for long. You can go in, but not for more than a half-hour. Don’t upset her."

They all went into Abby’s room, being careful to be quiet. She looked pale, withdrawn, and completely miserable. When the door opened, she looked up. "Mama?" She asked

Sophie came forward and tried to embrace her. "Oh, my baby, my baby." She said over and over. After a bit, she let go, but stayed close, looking her daughter over. "How are you doing, hon?"

Abby was a bit surprised by her mother’s reaction, it seemed. "I’m fine, mom." She noticed Gina was there too, and asked, "How did you know to come?"

Sophie smiled and pulled Steve closer. "Steven called us. Said you had some sort of accident." Steve smiled weakly as Abby stared at him for a minute. "How are you doing, child? Do you need anything?"

Abby fidgeted a little. Steve knew she didn’t like this sort of attention. "Really, mom, I’m all right, except for what happened."

"Well, anyway, you just rest. I’ll tell the bakery that you’re in the hospital for a bit, and I’ll stop by, collect your mail, and water the plants." Sophie took out an appointment book and began making notes. "Is there anything else you need to have done?"

"I’ll let you know."

"Well then. The nurse said we couldn’t disturb you for very long, so I’m going to go now. I’ll see you tomorrow." With that, she got up off the bed.

Gina came forward and took her sister’s hand. "I know you’ll be all right. Take care."

Matt and Vicki came forward. "You be well." Matt said. Vicki bent down and kissed her on the cheek.

They all left, except for Steve. He dragged the chair up to her bedside. "I didn’t tell Sophie about what you’d done." He said to her.

Abby turned her head away from Steve. "You hate me, don’t you?"

Steve reached out and put his hand on her arm. "No. I am disappointed, though. Why on earth would you risk your health like this? You know better."

Without turning her head to him, she answered. "I felt so ashamed. This happened to me, the big birth control advocate. I’m not on the pill, and I let myself get laid by this total loser, who swore he didn’t need a condom. He left before I got up, and left forty bucks on the nightstand. Forty bucks! I felt like a call girl."

"Still." He replied. "You could have gotten one legally AND SAFELY."

"I don’t know exactly why. I guess I just wanted it over with, and not have to deal with everyone. I wanted to talk with you about maybe having the baby, whether or not it would be a good idea. When you didn’t come over, I sort of lost it."

"OK. I think the fact that you’re going to be laid up here for two weeks is enough punishment. Now, as your best friend, all I want you to do is rest and get better. Sophie and I will handle the outside world." He patted her hand, and got up to leave.

"Steve," said Abby as he turned to leave, "What did you call yourself?"

Steve turned around. "Your best friend." He grinned in a smug manner.

She smiled weakly. "It’s about time you figured that out."